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TV's Dennis Gage props his hand up on the windshield of a vintage 50s model Triumph TR3, naming it his favourite vehicle under the Harbourfront tent at the Northern Lights Rendezvous Car Show Saturday afternoon.
KIRAH SAPONG/Daily Miner and News

Dennis Gage, the host of Speed TV's highest-rated show, My Classic Car, was celebrity guest at the Northern Lights Rendezvous Car Show Saturday afternoon under the Harbourfront tent. He's a self-proclaimed British car fan, but also a big fan of Canadians.

"Canadian fans are the best fans in the world. I just love it up here," said Gage. "Kenora's a beautiful place and the town seems to have embraced the show here, which really helps. The town seems to be into it and the people are into the town. I'll have to come back."

Gage was given a Jaguar to drive into town from Winnipeg, but owns 10 cars and 10 motorcycles of his own at home. He hasn't picked a favourite, though.

"I'm perfectly suited for this job because I really have no favourites. Every vehicle is my favourite at the time I'm in it," said Gage. "From a British standpoint, I've always had Jaguars. Favourite cars of mine in the British genre though is the MGA."

Gage said he likes the MGB because it was more contemporary when it was launched in the early 1960s, but he's always liked the MGA style-wise.

"From a design and styling standpoint, I like the 50s and the 60s. I like the 70s, although a little bit less, but the 80s was a dark time. There's a lot of nice styled cars with a lot of performance that literally just went away in the 80s," said Gage. "It used to be that there was no replacement for cubic displacement. But now, through technological trickery, they're pumping out 500 horsepower that are meeting all sorts of emission specs and with fairly small displacement engines. I love the technology of today."

Gage did pick out a favourite at the show though. He commended a soft-yellow low-rider 50s model Triumph TR3 with wide-white wells on its wheels and a convertible top. He autographed the identification sheet and wrote, "Dennis Gage likes this car" at the bottom. Fans who saw Gage later told him the vehicle's owner couldn't stop beaming after seeing that.